Escape the Sickness
by Orca15
Summary: Evan just wants to escape from the sickness and Kari just wants to save her friend. What seems like a terrible accident brings them together...


Escape the Sickness

"I have to get out of here!" Major Evan Lorne screamed.

"Major Lorne, you have to calm down, please." Doctor Richard Henderson said calmly as he tried holding onto the Air force Major, but the Major struggled against his grip. The doctor struggled, with the help of two airmen, to get the Major in the restraints on the infirmary bed. They finally succeeded and the trio left the room. Robert went straight to the Generals office, leaving the airmen to guard the door of isolation room one. It felt like an eternity from the time he left isolation room one to the time he reached the Generals office. He knocked lightly.

"Doctor, please come in." General Hank Landry said, gesturing for Robert to sit down, he remained standing. "How's Major Lorne?"

"Still not responding to treatment. He's becoming more violent and insistent to leave. I can't give him anymore sedatives, it would kill him right out." Robert reported.

"And the others?"

"Dr. Jackson should be fine for release within the hour, there's no sign of the virus left in his system but I wanted to be sure. The rest are all responding to the treatments. Also, the vaccine is working to prevent more infection, I feel safe to be around the infected without the hazmats for now."

"Good to hear." The General sighed. "The last thing we need is for this to spread."

"Major Lorne believes that if he runs, he'll be able to outrun it. This could be a problem. If he doesn't settle down, I don't know what to do."

"We're trying to contact the Tok'Ra."

"That's good, lets hope we can get them on ti…."

"Sir!" Airmen Walter Harriman ran into the office. "Major Lorne just escaped. He's gone sir." The General and Doctor exchanged a glance. The General reached for his red phone.

Evan slipped into the warehouse. He was sweating, a cold sweat. He felt like he was going to die, and in truth, he was dying. The virus had made him insane, causing him to leave the base, he couldn't even remember doing so. He had to get to a secluded area, the less people around, the less chance of affecting someone else with this. This warehouse was his best choice, chances of there actually being anyone in the building were very slim. He fell, landing in a pile of blankets. iBlankets/i His mind raced. The room was dark, but from what he could make out in his clouded mind it was some kind of bedroom. i Bedroom, what have I done?/i A teenage girl appeared in the doorway, she screamed and ran. After what felt like an eternity the girl returned with another girl and two teenage boys. "Stay there, don't come any closer. Please." He tried to say, but his throat was so sore from the sickness and from yelling, it pained him to speak.

"Kari, lets get out of here." The first girl said.

"Ella, he's sick, by all right's we need to help him." The second girl replied as she started walking closer.

"No!" he urged. "Stay back!"

"Let me help you."

"You can't." She was kneeling next to him now, her dark hair shining, like an angel. Then he realized that there was a light behind her head, making her hair appear to be shining. "Doesn't anyone listen anymore?!" Yelling caused him to start coughing. When the coughing spell passed he tried to roll away from the girl.

"I just want to help you." she insisted.

"You can't, and now you're sick. Everybody else stay over there. You stay here, hopefully they won't get sick too." The girl stared at him for a moment, but it wasn't fear in her eyes, it should be fear, but it was concern, not fear. iShe should be afraid./i "I'm Evan Lorne."

"Kari." Was her short reply.

"You got a last name?"

"Just Kari." He started coughing again. When it passed he looked at her.

"Do any of you have a cell phone?" He coughed again.

"Mark, toss me your phone." Kari said as she turned to one of the boys. The boy tossed a phone to her and she handed it to Evan. "Who are you calling?"

"A man named Daniel Jackson. He'll help us. I hope." Evan dialed a number, it rang four times and the voicemail picked up.

i"Hi, you've reached Dr. Jackson, I'm not available or I don't have a signal here, wherever here is. Leave a message or try back later."/i It beeped, but Evan didn't leave a message, he hung up.

"No answer." He said. "Lets just relax, we're going to be here for awhile." He coughed and covered his mouth. When he finished coughing and pulled his hand back, it was covered in blood. They and stared at the hand and blood.

Kari paced the room, staying close to Evan Lorne who had gone to sleep, either that or passed out, she couldn't tell. "Kari" Ella said from the door. "We should get out of here."

"Ella, he's sick. We can't just leave him here." Kari replied.

"And now we're all sick."

"All the more reason to stick around. We can't spread this, whatever it is, and even so, I have a feeling this isn't just a cold, he might be the only link we have to getting help." She slipped the phone out of Lorne's hand and looked at the last number dialed.

"What are you doing?" Mark asked.

"Calling this Jackson guy." She hit the dial button and lifted the phone to her ear. It rang once and someone answered.

"Hello." The male voice said.

"Hi, is this Daniel Jackson?"

"Uh… yes." The man replied hesitantly.

"My name is Kari. My friends and I are with this guy, he's really sick."

"Kari, how did you get this number?"

"His name is Evan Lorne. He's real sick. He tried to call you earlier. He passed out or went to sleep or something. I think we're all sick now." She was bordering on panic, this guy didn't seem to want to help.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa okay. How many of you are there?"

"There's four of us and Mr. Lorne."

"Was anyone else exposed and left the area?"

"No."

"Okay, good. Where are you?"

"It's an old warehouse off of Cordell and Monie street."

"Town?"

"Colorado Springs."

"I'll be right there."

"Okay."

"Don't go anywhere, just stay there, we're gonna help you."

"Okay." She hung up. "Help is on the way." Mark, James, and Ella all nodded and sat down together against the wall under the window. "Is it cold to anyone else?"

"A little." James said.

"It shouldn't be this cold." Mark noted. "It is the middle of July after all."

"Do you think it's this sickness?" Ella questioned.

"Maybe." The cell phone rang.

"Hello." Kari said as she answered it.

"Kari?" It was Daniel Jackson.

"Yeah."

"I think we're at the right warehouse, where exactly are you?"

"We're in room 310. Third floor, fifth door on the left."

"Okay, My friends and I are coming up."

"Okay." She hung up.

"What'd he say?" James wanted to know.

"He said he's on his way up." The trio under the window nodded. After what seemed like hours, a single form appeared in the doorway.

"Colonel!" the sound came from the form. It seemed to be alien at first, but then Kari decided it was a man wearing a hazmat suit. "Kari?" the form questioned.

"That's me." Kari said as she tried to stand up. She felt so weak she had to sit back down.

"I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson." The form said. "I'm here to help." Another form appeared next to him. "This is Colonel John Sheppard."

"Colonel?" Kari questioned.

"Air Force. Evan Lorne is in the Air Force as well."

"He didn't say anything about that."

"Of course he didn't…"

"Okay." Colonel Sheppard's form said. "We're going to have to take you to a medical base." The four teenagers nodded their head's. Kari tried to get up again, but failed again, making her give up.

"What is this sickness? He showed up less then two hours ago and I'm already so weak I can't even stand up." Kari questioned.

"It's alright, we're gonna get you out of here." Jackson assured.

"What about him? Is he okay?" She nodded toward Lorne.

"He will be." Jackson knelt in front of her. "I have to give you this shot, it'll help the pain, is that okay?" He reached into the black lunchbox like container that he carried and produced a syringe. She nodded. She watched while Jackson injected the contents of the syringe into her arm. She felt really drowsy all of a sudden, then she blacked out.

When Kari started coming around she felt lost and had no idea where she was. "Hey." A voice said. "Kari?" She didn't know who the man was, but he seemed to be a doctor. "I'm Doctor Henderson. You're safe now."

"Where am I?" Kari asked.

"You don't remember?"

"No, how did I get here?"

"You're sick Kari. You and your friends were in a warehouse when you come upon a sick man…."

"Evan Lorne." She interrupted as the memory's came back. "How did I get here and where exactly is here."

"We had to sedate you. We brought you here so I could treat you." He patted her shoulder. "You're gonna be okay."

"Ella, James and Mark?"

"Their okay."

"And Mr. Lorne?"

"Major Lorne is just fine for now."

"So, you've cured him?"

"Unfortunately, no. He's not responding to medications."

"But you'll find something right?"

"Yeah." The door opened and for the first time, Kari realized she was occupying the only bed in the room.

"Doctor, the General wants to see you." A young soldier said from the door. The doctor nodded to the young man then turned to Kari.

"I'll be back soon to check on you." He said, Kari nodded in response and the doctor left. Leaving her to think about what was going on. What would she tell these people when they asked for last names? Or did they already know who she, Ella, James and Mark are? Could she hide if forever? All those questions were something to ponder when she got to that bridge. Perhaps she'd be able to burn this bridge like she'd burned so many others.

Henderson knocked on the Generals door. "Come." The General replied.

"You wanted to see me sir." Henderson replied.

"Yes, we need to find out who those kid's are. I want you to see what you can get."

"Yes sir."

"How are they?"

"Mark, James and Ella are responding to treatments quiet well. However, Kari is not, she's just going to get a whole lot worse and I don't know what to do."

"So, I guess the next question I was going to ask is already answered."

"Sir?"

"I was gonna ask if there were any breakthroughs."

"No sir."

"Let me know."

"Yes sir."

"The last thing we need is for one of those kids to die, it could mean the revelation of the Stargate to the world."

"No pressure huh sir."

"No pressure." Henderson walked out and back toward the lab section of the infirmary.

Evan fought against the restraints. "I have to get away!" He screamed, the effort making the pain worse. "Let me get away!" Doctor Henderson shook his head.

"Calm down."

"Let me out!"

"I can't give you anymore sedatives!" the Doctor said.

"Let me go!"

"This is for your own good Major."

"NO it's not!" Evan screamed louder, it hadn't seemed possible till he did it. "You're killing me!"

"Major Lorne, I am not killing you. Your just going to have to trust me." Evan continued fighting. The doctor shook his head again and walked out.

Henderson walked the halls, hoping that the answer would just pop up. What did Major Evan Lorne have in common with a 17 year-old girl? "Doctor!" Dr. Rodney McKay's voice followed him down the hall. "Doctor, I think I got it!" Henderson stopped.

"You're not a medical doctor." Henderson said.

"So" McKay replied. "It's been right there in front of us the whole time. Right there."

"What?" Henderson asked as his patients began to wear thin.

"The ancient gene."

"What about it?"

"Doctor Beckett had to give Sheppard and I a higher concentrate of the vaccine because Sheppard had the gene naturally and I've had the gene therapy. Lorne had the therapy too and I'm willing to bet that Kari has the gene naturally."

"You're right! You are so right!" Henderson screamed, he ran towards his lab.

"I'm always' right!" McKay screamed after him.

iHours later/i

Henderson made his way to isolation room one. He could hear Lorne screaming to be freed. He nodded to the guard at the door. The guard turned and opened the door. He went in and straight over to Lorne's side. "Why are you keeping me here?" Lorne asked. Henderson chose not to answer for fear of fueling the Majors mistrust. He injected the contents of the syringe into the IV line that was inserted into the Majors arm. "You're going to kill me!"

"Just calm down Major, you'll be fine."

"Security breach! Level twenty eight!" Airmen Walter Harriman's voice came over the PA system. "The patient from isolation room two has entered the Stargate room, I repeat, the patient from isolation room two has entered the Stargate room." Henderson took off running. He reached the 'gate room and stopped dead in his tracks just as the call for medical emergency came. Kari was laying on the ground, blood gushing from her side.

"What happened?!" The doctor demanded.

"We had an unscheduled off world activation. The girl came running in using one of her guards security cards, we couldn't get the iris closed in time. SG-4 came in hot and there was enemy fire coming through the 'gate. She got hit in the cross fire." An Airman reported.

"Cross fire! You were firing into an incoming wormhole?!" The airman lowered his head.

"Yes sir." Henderson shook his head and stepped over to Kari's side and began treating her wound.

"Get this level quarantined. This is how the virus was spread to start with!" The other people in the 'gate room began working on quarantining the area. "I need operating room one prepped and ready in ten minutes." His medical assistants began working as well.

"Let me out of here!" Kari suddenly screamed when she regained consciousness.

"Kari, please calm down, stay calm. I've got to get the bullet out."

"You're killing me!"

"No, I'm not, this was an accident, let me help."

"You can't help, you're killing me!"

"Calm down."

"You're killing me!"

"No" He reached into his bag and pulled out a sedative. He administered the sedative and leaned back. "It's going to be okay." Kari quit fighting and laid still. He lifted her onto the stretcher and rushed her to the operating room.

"Doc" The weak voice came from behind him, Henderson turned.

"Evan, how do you feel?" Henderson asked.

"Better. What's going on?"

"You were sick."

"I know that. But, why am I better? I thought I wasn't responding to the treatment?"

"You weren't, but I fixed the problem. You weren't responding because of the Ancient gene and so I…."

"Doc, spare me the medical techno babble."

"Okay."

"I'm cured right?"

"Yes."

"And the kids?"

"Their okay, Kari has had a bit of trouble, but I'm sure I got it now."

"What kind of trouble?"

"She was running and took off into the 'gate room. She was caught by friendly fire."

"Friendly fire?"

"We'll explain when you're feeling better. Right now, I have to go check on Kari." Evan nodded. Henderson left and headed for isolation room one. His hopes that she was doing better we dashed the minute he got to the door. He could hear her screaming to be allowed to leave. He sighed as he opened the door and walked in. She stopped and looked directly at him. Her eye's were filled with anger, pain, fear and distrust. "Kari, how are you doing?"

"You're killing me! How do you think I'm doing?!" Kari screamed at him.

"I can guarantee you that I am not trying to kill you."

"First you try to do it medically, then, when that doesn't work, you send me right into the line of fire!"

"That's not true. You'll be okay."

"I will not be okay until you back off and leave me alone."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that."

"And why not?"

"Because I've heard the same argument from sixteen other patients in the last four days. All of those patients had to trust me at some point and when they did, I was able to cure them because they cooperated. Now it's your turn."

"You're killing me! How can I trust you?!"

"I'm not killing you."

"You're not making me any better either!" Henderson had no comeback for that.

"I need a sample of your blood."

"It's not like I can stop you, murderer." She spat the last word like venom. He drew the blood that he needed and left without another word. As a doctor he had seen many, many, many different sicknesses. Many different viruses. But none like this, none that reacted differently with each person. None that made a person literally believe that they were being killed by anyone and everyone around them. They think that everyone around them were planning their ultimate demise. He made his way over to the lab and began testing the blood.

"This shouldn't have happened!" Henderson said with frustration.

"Is there a problem?" General Landry said from behind him.

"Yes, there is. This is Kari's blood sample that I took six hours ago."

"She's not responding to treatment?" Landry guessed.

"No, she's not. But, the good news is that I think I know why." Landry just stared at him. "In the 'gate room I gave her a sedative to calm her down."

"I know what the purpose of a sedative is Doctor."

"The point is that the sedative counteracted the treatment."

"Oh, so can't you give her a stronger dose?"

"No. I need her system to get cleared out. If there's any trace of the sedative left in her system it will counteract the treatment, I have to wait twenty-four hours."

"I shouldn't have to tell you that she may not have twenty-four hours."

"I know that. But, Lorne lasted that long, lets just hope it has to do with the Ancient gene."

"Why?"

"Because she has the gene naturally and I think that the reason Lorne and Kari both had it worse is because they were the only two infected people with the gene. I think the gene was fighting the virus."

"Let's hope that's the case."

"We can only hope." He leaned back and stared at the screen.

"Doctor" an Airman said from the open door.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Major Lorne wants to speak to you."

"I'll be right there."

"Yes sir." The airman walked away.

"I'm gonna go see what the Major needs." He stood up and headed for the door.

"Doctor"

"Yes?" he turned to face the General.

"She's going to be okay."

"I hope so sir." He continued on his way to isolation room one. When he arrived, Major Lorne was sitting up in bed. "Lorne, what are you doing?"

"I need to see her."

"Who?"

"Kari, I need to see her. I promise, I won't leave her room. I'll be good."

"I've heard that before."

"I figured you had. Please, let me see her."

"She'll think you're trying to kill her."

"I know, I've been there. Let me help her get through this."

"Okay." He walked the Major over to isolation room two. "Major, I can't give her anymore sedatives. They counteracted the treatment and now I can't treat her for…." He looked at his watch. "Eighteen hours."

"So there's no way to keep her from going insane in the next eighteen hours."

"Precisely."

"Got it, she might try to kill me. I'll be okay." Henderson nodded and opened the door. They were greeted with a calm.

"Coming to kill me for good?"

"No Kari, we're not here to kill you." Henderson assured.

"Sure, I believe that."

"Okay, we'll just go with that then."

"Kari, I'm here to support you." Evan said. Kari just looked at him. A tinge of fear in her eyes. "I know you're scared. I've been there."

"Major Lorne?" Kari sounded unsure of who she was speaking to.

"Yes." A peace came over her. Henderson was surprised by how calm she was.

"I have to get out of here, I have to leave. They won't let me escape this sickness."

"I know. I know." Evan picked up Kari's hand. "But I'll stay with you." A slight smile curved the Major's lips and Henderson got a feeling that even if he had of wanted to make Evan leave, there would be no way to do so.

"I'll be back later to check on you." Henderson said before taking his leave and heading back to his lab.

"Kari, do you remember how you got sick?" Evan asked.

"Yes, I was trying to help you. You came to my warehouse." Kari replied.

"Your warehouse?" Evan questioned. There was something wrong with that phrase coming from a teenager. Kari didn't reply. "Kari, is there something you want to tell me?"

"Where's Ella, James and Mark?"

"They're in the infirmary. They're okay."

"Good." The door opened and Daniel Jackson came in.

"Evan." Daniel nodded his head at Evan, then turned to Kari. "Kari, I have a few questions to ask you."

"I'm sure you do." Kari replied.

"We're having troubles finding out who your parents' are."

"You don't need to know."

"Look, we've treated you without knowing anything about you. Do you have any idea how risky that is? We could have given you something you're allergic to, or if, in the unwanted occasion, one of you didn't make it, we wouldn't be able to find out who to contact."

"We're foster kids okay. Ella's latest 'daddy' was abusing her. Mark, James and I couldn't stand by and watch it, so we ran away, brought her with us." Evan was surprised by this, it made him sick to think that the reason they ended up getting sick with this virus was because they were running from something that no one would help them with. He looked down at Kari, tears streaked her face. "Ella didn't want to go, she said that he had threatened to kill her if she tried to leave. I went to the police first, but they wouldn't do anything. So, I decided to get her in the middle of the night. I packed up my things and went to Ella's foster house. When I got there, I found him hitting her. I fought him off. Knocked him out, but he came after us. He caught up to us at Marks house, but we slipped out the back. We knew that we wouldn't be safe if we went back to my house, so I found an empty warehouse, we've been there for three weeks." Evans heart went out to this girl. She had done everything in her power to help her friend. "Ella is like a sister to me."

"Okay, can you give me last names?"

"Ella Camma, James Conner, Mark Conrad and me, Kari Smith."

"Thank you."

"Please, don't make us go back."

"I have an idea, but I have to talk to General Landry first." He smiled. "I'll be back later." Kari nodded as Dr. Jackson left the room.

"Kari, why didn't you just tell us outright?" Evan asked.

"Because I ran away and I led them to running away. It's a criminal act." She replied.

"Not if you're doing it to save someone."

"I wanna go to sleep now." Kari turned away from him.

iHours later/i

"Let me out!!" Kari screamed.

"Kari, you know that I can't do that. This is for your own safety." Evan said. Doctor Henderson came in. "I think the sedative is worn off." Evan told the doctor.

"It may have worn off, but is it out of her system?" The doctor replied. "There's only one way to find out." He took a sample of Kari's blood. "I'll be back with some results." Henderson rushed out.

"Kari, you have to calm down. Take a deep breath, you'll be okay."

"You're holding me against my will!" Kari screamed louder.

"We're holding you against the will of the sickness, you have to calm down. We can help you."

"If you could have you would have done it already!"

"If you really believed that you would have been trying to get out while on the sedative. Right now you're allowing the sickness to talk and that's okay, but you have to fight it!" Henderson came back in. He had a syringe in his hand, he nodded to Evan. "You've gotta be still now." Henderson grabbed her arm and injected the anti-virus.

"It'll take about an hour to take effect." Henderson said. "Just try to get her calm." Evan nodded.

"Kari, calm down. Come on, you've gotta fight it."

"I can't!" she screamed.

"Fight it for Ella!" That got a reaction from Kari. "You can do it! She needs you." Kari lay still for a moment, but that was all, she continued thrashing around and fighting the restraints.

iHours later/i

Kari had been calm for about an hour. "Major Lorne?" she questioned.

"I'm here." He laid his hand on top of hers.

"I'm sorry about everything that I said."

"It's okay. Like I've said before, I was there too. I know what it's like."

"I'm usually the calm one. Ella, James, and Mark look up to me to be strong and help them. I've failed them."

"No you haven't. None of this was your fault." The door opened and Daniel came in. "Daniel."

"Evan." Daniel replied. "Kari, I hear your doing better."

"The doctor says I'll be back to normal within three hours." Kari responded. "Look, I wanted to talk to you about what I told you."

"That's what I'm here to talk about."

"I don't care what happens to me, put me in juvy or whatever, but please, get Ella, Mark, and James into safe homes. Together if you can."

"We're not going to put you in juvy Kari. I have a plan, but you have to get better."

"What kind of plan?" Kari and Evan both questioned.

"You'll see. I just wanted to tell you that you're all going to be okay."

"That's good to hear." Kari replied.

"I've got a few more things to get taken care of. I'll be back in about an hour to get you."

"Okay. I guess I'll see you then." Daniel walked out. Evan looked at Kari.

"I trust that he has a good plan." He said.

"Me too."

iAn hour later/i

"A Spinosaurus dinosaur was bigger than the T-Rex in Jurassic park, but in reality, they were about the same size." Evan said.

"Orca whales are the dog of the sea." Kari replied. They had been throwing facts back and forth for about twenty minutes now, the first to question a fact or laugh would loose.

"Orca's?"

"You loose."  
"I know, but I can't leave that one alone. What is an Orca?"

"It's a killer whale. Their black and white."

"Why do you say their the dog of the sea?"

"Because, you can train an orca as easily as you can a dog."

"Oh."

"Okay, there's this other game."

"You know, most kids these day's would have fun watching TV or playing video games."

"I know. But we never have had a chance to have a TV or video games. So we make do with what we have."

"Cool. Next game?"

"Okay, we ask each other a question, just random questions, the first one to answer a question looses."

"Sounds easy enough."

"Why are the walls gray?" Kari started off with an easy question to ignore.

"Where do you work?"

"Why are your eyes pretty like they are?"

"Who's the president?"

"What does Doctor Jackson do?"

"How old is Ella?"

"Can you tiptoe?"

"What color is the sky?"

"What is a rainbow?"

"What are we doing?"

"Why did you sit with me?"

"What…" Evan stopped. "I sat with you because I feel guilty." He said. "And because you're beautiful and amazing." He leaned closer to her and kissed her softly. All Kari could hear was her heart beat drumming in her ears and Evans soft and steady breathing.

"You lost the game." She said to fill the silence.

"Please tell me you feel the same way."

"Right now I'm just really confused." He leaned back.

"I'm sorry." Just as she was about to answer, the door opened and Daniel came in.

"Okay, time to get you out of this room." He said, oblivious to the tension in the room.

"Okay." Kari said as cheerfully as possible to cover the tension.

"I need you to sign these papers." Daniel threw some papers down in front of her.

"What are they?"

"They're papers that if you sign you're promising not to disclose the information that you are given while here." Evan replied while Daniel pulled a wheelchair over to the side of her bed. With Evans help she sat up and dropped her feet off the side of the bed. She signed the paper.

"Quick question before I get out of here." She said.

"Sure." Daniel replied.

"Did I get shot by a big vertical puddle of water or was it a hallucination."

"Come on and I'll show you." She carefully stood up long enough to sit down in the chair. Daniel pushed her while Evan walked by her side, the tension was still there but it had eased quite a bit thanks to Daniels interruption.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." Evan replied. They came to a big blast door, which opened to reveal a huge room.

"What's that?" she asked, but before either of the men could answer she caught sight of a huge ring.

"That is the Stargate." Evan informed her. A woman with long blond hair came up to her.

"Hi, my name is Lt. Col. Samantha Carter, you can call me Sam." The woman said. "This is, as Lorne said, the Stargate. Using the Stargate we can travel to worlds that are thousands of light years away in just a matter of seconds."

"How does it work?"

"That's the cool part." Evan said.

"We give the Stargate a command code, telling it which points in space to target. After it receives the dialing code, the inner ring spins and it establishes a stable wormhole to the destination that we gave it." Sam explained.

"How do you travel through it?" Kari asked.

"We step through."

"It's a wormhole, wouldn't you be killed?"

"No, actually we wouldn't. See, the 'gate is designed for this kind of travel. Once we step inside, our body's are taken apart into a million pieces and transported to the other side. Once on the other side, the 'gate puts us back together."

"Have you ever not been put back together?"

"Teal'c once got…."

"Um, Sam lets not tell her our biggest horror stories just yet." Daniel interrupted the woman.

"Okay…." Another man came in, he looked a lot like Daniel and Kari wondered for a second if they were brothers.

"Hey Sam. Landry wants to get this show on the road." The man said. "Mr. Woolsey is getting impatient."

"Kari, this is Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell."

"Hi." Kari said.

"How do you do ma'am?" Mitchell said as he shook her hand.

"Better now thank you."

"Come on, lets go." Mitchell led the way and they took her to a flight of stairs. Evan picked her up and carried her up the stairs while Daniel brought the wheelchair up. She watched Evans face while her mind wondered. i His arms are so strong…./i He sat her down in the wheelchair. A man with a half bald head approached her.

"Miss Smith." He offered his hand. "My name is Richard Woolsey."

"Hi." Kari shook his hand.

"Well." The other man in the room said. "If we can all sit down, we'll get this thing started." Evan pushed her chair up to the table.

"That's General Landry." He whispered in her ear as he took a seat next to her.

"Miss Smith. I trust that you have been briefed on the Stargate." Woolsey said.

"Actually." Sam said. "We were just getting started."

"I am on a schedule Col. Carter."

"I know that." She turned to look at Kari. "In a nutshell, basically what we do here at Stargate command is we send teams through the Stargate to other worlds in search of new technologies. We have fought off enemies and…."

"Do not let Sam fool you." A deep voice said from behind her, she turned around to see a tall, very big black man with a strange gold tattoo on his forehead. "We have battled against very evil enemies and won that fight."

"Kari, this is Teal'c." Teal'c sat down next to Daniel at the other end of the table. "Anyway, we have made many allies and, most importantly, found the lost city of Atlantis."

"That's a myth." Kari said.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Daniel said.

"You'll be fully briefed on all of this later." Woolsey said. "I am here to offer you and your friends a job."

"A job?" Kari questioned.

"Yes, we are putting together a team of seventeen year old kids to go to Atlantis. Doctor Jackson seems to think that you would be the best."

"You want me to leave the country so I won't say anything about this whole sickness thing right?"

"Not the country, the galaxy, and that's not the reason." Daniel said. "We have come across the need to have a younger team around. We were just going to put together a team of fresh out of training, but then all of this happened and you came along. You single handedly took down a drunk and angry man that's nearly three feet taller then you and weighs at least two hundred pounds more then you."

"I was protecting Ella. I'll never be able to do this, I can't leave Ella behind."

"Oh, we were thinking that we could get all four of you to go."

"Why us?"

"None of you have any family. Looks to me like you could use one." Landry spoke up.

"If you explain all of this to Ella, Mark and James. I'll do it." Daniel grinned while Sam started getting some paperwork together and Woolsey got up.

"I hope you know what you're doing General." He said as he left the room.

iTwo months later./i

"You ready?" Evan asked Kari when she walked into the 'gate room.

"I sure am" She replied when Ella, Mark and James joined them.

"Okay, we're going to be transported from here to the Deadulas and then we'll be taken to Atlantis from there. I hope you brought something to do, it's going to be a long seventeen day's."

"I'll think we'll manage." She looked around at the other teens, they all nodded. Evan nodded to Airman Harriman who was in the observation room. He said something and the next thing Kari knew she was standing in a room on the Deadulas. She shivered. "Do you ever get used to that?"

"No." Evan replied.

"Where's all our bags?" Ella asked.

"They were beamed directly to your quarters." Evan said. "Lets go let the Colonel know we're ready to go." They all nodded and he led the way to the bridge. "Colonel Caldwell. This is Stargate Atlantis Junior team. Kids, this is Colonel Stephen Caldwell. Captain of the Deadulas."

"Welcome aboard." The Colonel said. "Airman." He nodded to the younger man that sat next to him. "Take us to hyperspace." The ship lurched forward, indicated only by the stars flying by, and then by the great blue light that filled the screen. Kari walked over to the window to look out.

iHours later./i

Kari stood next to the window in the mess hall looking out. "It's beautiful isn't it?" Evan asked. "Just like you." He added.

"I don't know if it's like me, but it is beautiful." She replied as he came to stand next to her.

"I think so." He whispered. "Though, I liked your dark hair better then the blonde…."

"Hey, I died my hair because I've always' wanted to and I've never had to money to do it. I finally had to money to do and so I did." She defended herself. "Besides… this is going to sound really immature, but I want to be like Sam Carter. She's so strong and smart. I can only hope to be half that smart."

"You will be, just give it some time." He assured her. "And it's not immature. I took the assignment on Atlantis because I thought Daniel would approve. I've always' kind of wished he was my brother. There's nothing wrong with having someone to look up to."

"I know, but usually I'm the one that other's look up to, I don't normally get the chance to look up to anyone else."

"Well now's your chance."

"I know." She turned to face him. "Do you remember that really tense moment back at the SGC, right after I got cured…. When you kissed me?"

"Hard to forget." He replied with more then a little pain in his eyes. "Look, I'm sorry about that, I shouldn't have done it. It was inappropriate and out of place and I'm real…." She cut him off with a kiss of her own.

"No, it's okay… I feel the same way." He kissed her back.

"You know there are rules against this kind of thing, right?"

"Yup, wanna know how I feel about that?"

"Sure, why not."

"I've lived my life breaking rules. Why stop now?"

"Sounds good to me." They turned back to the window.


End file.
